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How does a dacron fibre texture feels like? Is it suppose to be smooth or rough? Sorry for such a noob question. This fabric isn't easily available in my country. I've managed to find one but it feels very smooth, like polyester, just that it's thinner. In the pictures that I see, it seems to be those lightweight, rough type of texture. Doesn't feel like the one I've found. Hopefully, someone can enlighten me on this. Thanks in advance.

Dacron is Dupont's trademarked name for Polyester, so they're the same thing. Dacron/Polyester is just a fiber, that's made in to yarns, which are made into fabrics.

The Dacron that kitemakers use for leading edges, for example, is a fairly small yarn, woven quite tightly, to give it a fairly smooth texture. It's usually refered to as 3.9 Oz Dacron (3.9 Oz per sailmaker's yard), and comes from the sail making industry where it's used to make main sails.

The polyester used for kite sails is a much smaller yarn, woven even tighter, with a repeating patern of heavier yarns woven in to create a criss-cross pattern they call ripstop. It is coated and calendared to make it less likely to stretch, and prevent air from passing through it. "Icarex"/PC 31 have polycarbonate coatings. The "31" in "PC31" is 31 Grams/M2. When you see 1/2, 3/4, or 1-1/2 Ounce, they're refering to ounces per sail makers yard again. It comes from the boat sail makers world again. But it's used for making spinakers.

You're unlikely to find either of these in a fabric store, but you might be able to find leftovers from a sailmaker. Or grit your teeth and place an international order.

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